(PresidentialInsider.com)- According to the New York Post, this year has seen a mass exodus of officers from the NYPD.
According to the NYPD pension stats, over 1,500 NYPD officers have either retired or resigned so far this year, putting 2022 on pace to be the largest mass exit from the NYPD since the statistics have been compiled.
As of May 31, 524 officers resigned while another 1,072 have put in for retirement, bringing the total to 1,596 officers. This is 38 percent higher than the same period in 2021 when 1,159 officers left, and a staggering 46 percent increase over the same period in 2020 when 1,092 officers left the NYPD.
Former officers who spoke with the New York Post said the city’s anti-cop sentiment, the current bail reform measure sending criminals back onto the streets, and the rising crime rate have led to increased frustration and burnout among the NYPD.
The pension stats don’t match up with the NYPD’s figures, the Post reported. According to the NYPD, only 1,092 officers were set to leave by the end of May, with 494 resigning and another 594 retiring.
To collect their full pension, officers typically work 20 years or more. According to the data reviewed by the Post, some are “running their time” or using up their accrued days off before they leave the force. The officers doing that are still counted as being on the force in the NYPD’s figures.
Patrick Lynch, the president of the Police Benevolent Association Patrolman Union told the Post that between the low pay and benefits and the abuse from anti-police politicians, the NYPD is having a hard time filling new Academy classes. Ultimately, the staffing shortage and mass exodus of trained officers are going to make it harder to maintain public safety and “turn the tide of violence” in the city.
The NYPD had hoped to hire over a thousand new officers from the Academy class that began last December. However, the upcoming graduating class amounts to only 675.
According to former NYPD sergeant Joseph Giacalone, now a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, it could take a generation to repair the damage done by anti-police activists “and their pandering politicians.”
